My Answer
by Smurf2005
Summary: It's been ten years since the final battle at the village of Kanna, and Kirara tells the story of the Seven Great Samurai. Then someone comes back to visit. Katsushiro x Kirara.


**I would like to dedicate this chapter to my Great Uncle Jim. He died yesterday night. I just hope he is in a better place now.**

A/N: Hello everyone! How are you all? I have some sad news to share with you. As you all might have read above, my Great Uncle died yesterday evening. So, if I start writing sad stories, then that is just my way to release my feelings. Anyways, this is a _Samurai 7_story. I haven't written one in awhile and I was wondering if the story of the Great Seven Samurai was ever passed down, so, I wrote a story like that. By the way, the name of the story is a song title by the band Seamo. The song is for the Naruto Shippuuden series. Anyways, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own _Samurai 7. _Akira Kurosawa does. If I did, Kirara and Katsushiro would be together forever.

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My Answer

Kirara was walking the familiar path to the hill where four graves were. The four graves belonged to the four samurai who gave up their lives so they could live without fear. But, that was ten years ago. She hadn't seen Katsushiro or Kambei in ten years. She had gone back to see Yukino and Shichiroji, but they hadn't seen them either. When she reached the top, she saw some kids playing.

"I wonder what these graves are here for," one kid said.

"Oh look! It's Kirara-sama! Maybe she could tell us what these graves are here for!"

All the kids ran up to Kirara and gathered around her.

"Kirara-sama, please tell us what these are here for!"

"You mean, your parents never told you the story of the Great Seven Samurai?" she asked.

They all shook their heads and Kirara smiled slightly. She sat down on the grass near the graves and started to tell the tale.

"Ten years ago, Kanna and all the villages around were being terrorized by the bandits. We were finally sick of it, so the Village Elder sent Rikichi, Komachi and I into the city in search for samurai. Since we had no money, the Village Elder told us to offer them rice as payment. As soon as we got there, we were robbed. Someone tried to steal our rice. That's when we met Katsushiro, he stopped the thief, and we were able to get our rice back, but he wasn't the one we were looking for. Finally, we met Kambei. He was the one we were looking for, but he refused us."

She went on and continued to tell her story. The story of the seven great samurai they had managed to find; the story of Kambei, Gorobei, Heihachi, Shichiroji, Katsushiro, Kyuzo and Kikuchiyo. She ended the story at the part when Shichiroji and Kambei left.

"That's it?" one of the boys asked.

"Yeah, that's it," Kirara said, smiling.

"Did you ever fall in love with one of the samurai?" one of the girls asked.

The smile that Kirara had on her face faded as she thought back to the two samurai that she loved.

"Yes, I did. I loved two of the samurai. Komachi was also in love with one."

Kirara glanced behind her at Kikuchiyo's grave; the one with the giant sword sticking out of it.

"Komachi-sama was in love with a samurai, too?"

"Oh yes. She loved Kikuchiyo-sama. She even asked him to marry her when she grew up."

"What about you, Kirara-sama? Who were you in love with?"

"At first it was Kambei-sama, but he told me that his heart had dried up long ago, and that I shouldn't wait for him. But, after awhile, I realized that the one I truly loved was Katsushiro-sama. But, the night he left, he told me that he had denied his heart as well. Then, Katsushiro-sama was gone."

They were all quiet for a few moments, then the kids got up and started to act out the story Kirara just told them. She watched them for a few moments before she turned her attention to the graves behind her. She kneeled in front of them and prayed. After a few minutes, Shino came running out of the village and up the hill toward Kirara. Kirara stood as Shino reached her and bent over, clutching her side.

"Shino-chan? What's wrong?" Kirara asked her.

"There... is... a samurai here," Shino panted. "He... is... on his way... here...."

Kirara's heart started to beat fast. She watched the treeline, hoping to catch a glimpse of the samurai. She wondered who it was. If it was Shichiroji, there wouldn't be this much fuss. So, that only left two possibilities. It could only be Kambei or Katsushiro. Kirara kept watching the treeline, anticipating the moment when when the samurai would appear. He finally showed himself, and tears sprang to her eyes. The samurai and Kirara looked at each other for a long time, before she took one step toward. Then she took two, and before she knew it, she was running toward him.

"Katsushiro-sama!" she yelled.

She slowed down as she neared him, then she stopped a few feet from him.

"Hello, Kirara-sama, I am back for a visit," he said.

Before Kirara could say another word, the kids converged on him and started to ask him questions about his sword and his life.

"Do you love Kirara-sama?" one of the girls asked.

Everybody got quiet and Katsushiro and Kirara froze and looked away from each other, blushing.

"Come on, kids! Let's go back to the village," Shino said, flapping her arms at the children.

The kids groaned, but headed back to the village. Shino winked as she passed and left Katsushiro and Kirara alone.

"I'm sorry to hear that the Village Elder and your Grandma died," Katsushiro said.

"It's okay. They got live full lives. They were able to live in peace for once," Kirara said. "So, you came back for a visit?"

"Yeah. I've been gone for far too long. I stopped to see Shichiroji-dono on the way here. He convinced me to come back. Plus, I had to see the graves again. And, well, I wanted to see you again."

Katsushiro's face turned red and Kirara smiled. He was so cute when he blushed.

"I guess you are probably tired and hungry. Come with me to my house and I will get you something to eat and drink and you can stay as long as you like."

She started to walk past him when he grabbed her arm and held her back.

"Kirara-sama, I love you. I want you to go with me as I go from village to village. I don't care even if we have to stay here. I just want you by my side."

Kirara didn't look at him. She was so happy to hear those words from him.

"I will give you my answer later. First say hello to the other samurai," Kirara said, gently extracting her arm out of his grasp and starting to walk away.

She went to her house and started to get things ready. After awhile, Katsushiro came to the house and they sat in silence while Kirara fixed dinner.

"Katsushiro-sama, I have my answer for," she started.

Katsushiro looked up eagerly and waited for her to talk again.

"I want to stay in Kanna. If you are willing to stay here, then I would like to marry you."

Katsushiro's face split into a wide smile and he walked over to Kirara and hugged her and place a kiss on her forehead.

"Of course we can stay in Kanna," he said, smiling.

The End

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A/N: Well, what did you think? I'm sorry if it's not too good, it's just so hot in the house. The A/C isn't working and I am about to pass out. So, I apologize. Right now, I would like to rant about something. I just finished watching _Samurai 7 _again, and I noticed something at the end. When Katsushiro was about to leave Kanna he was telling Kirara that he had to deny his heart in order to become a samurai or something like that. Did anyone else notice how she started to cry when he said that to her? I think at that time, she had finally fallen in love with him. Sigh. Well, I should be going. It's 4 am. I need sleep. Constructive criticism is welcome, but please no flames.


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